Attractiveness of brood cells from different honey bee races (Apis mellifera) to Varroa mites

Reproduction of the Varroa mite only occurs inside capped brood cells of honey bees. Therefore, invasion into brood cells is crucial for the mite’s reproduction and the rate of invasion will affect the growth of the mite population. We investigated the invasion response of the mites to drone or worker larvae of different honey bee races, because selection for less attractive brood may help Varroa mite control. We compared attractiveness of brood cells in 3 or 6 hour intervals before cell capping, because invasion response of the mites increased strongly with the age of both worker and drone larvae. The results suggest that not the racial origin of the worker brood, but the distance between the larva and the cell rim affected the invasion response of the Varroa mites to worker brood cells. Possibilities to obtain less attractive brood via selection seem to be limited.